No country is an island, even if some are surrounded by water. Each country, its employers and workforces are part of a globally intertwined macro economy and an employer in any one country can be competing for sales and talent with competitors from around the world.
Global growth requires developing global workforces to: increase a middle class of consumers; develop in-country sales, service, and/or production employees; and take advantage of right-shoring labor pools. Employers also need to access skilled talent in short supply in-country and yet importing talent can find an employer caught up in the turmoil of political as well as logistical issues.
The EU can be especially difficult to navigate. According to a new Accenture study issued at the European Business Summit 2011, “Europe in Tomorrow’s World,” one issue Europe needs to address to get back on track for future growth is the graying of the workforce and how to both develop and access more skilled labor.
As reported by Worldwide ERC, many EU countries are already wading in the waters of culture and immigration and are either considering or taking action to improve opportunities to augment local workforces:
- Sweden reduced its “Experts Tax” by 25% to attract more highly skilled expats, especially in the areas of science, research, and engineering;
- Austria opened its doors to workers from the eight Eastern European EU countries to bring in both highly-skilled and lower-skilled workers for industries such as construction and food service because of its aging population;
- Denmark’s major businesses called for relaxed immigration policies because six of the country’s ten largest businesses say they need to attract foreign employees within the next three years, and most businesses believe that current immigration policy is preventing them from hiring the foreign employees they need.
There are many ways for HRO service providers to assist in globalizing workforces including:
- RPO: Top-tier RPO providers continue to expand coverage into more and more countries. RPO vendors can also help navigate the work visa process in-country.
- Mobility: Expat assignments are a key tool to developing global leaders, one that must be carefully managed due to cost and complexity. Who better to assist than a workforce mobility expert?
- HR systems and payroll: Managing a multi-country workforce requires timely and accurate data and that is hard to come by without access to a top-notch employee data and reporting system. Services and systems are available from HRO payroll and multi-process HRO providers.
- Consulting: Before acting, a global workforce strategy and polices are needed to guide expansion. A HRO provider with an industry leading reputation in HR consulting can provide you with a one stop resource for transformation planning, implementation, and change management as well as operations.
Whether your company is a major MNC entering into new markets or a mid-sized company expanding into just one additional country, a resource skilled in the dynamics, logistics, and legalities of global workforce growth can be invaluable — check out your friendly HRO global community.
Linda Merritt, Research Director, HRO, NelsonHall
HRO Insights 
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